HEARTS OF FIRE AND SNOW Blanca Montes has goals. She wants to make a difference in the world and accomplish more than heroverbearing godfather or spoiled boyfriend think she’s capable of. So when Gregorio Chan, a handsomeand confident new guy shows up at her Nevada school, she is ready for a big change. Greg Chan also has goals, but they were determined centuries ago, when two star-crossed lovers took their own lives… Princess Itzac, who believed her beloved was sent to his death in battle, and Captain Popoca whose fate was forever tied to Itzac. Popoca was cursed by the gods to cycle through lives until he finds his love…

SECRET OF THE MOON CONCH Award-winning authors David Bowles and Guadalupe García McCall join forces to craft a sweeping fantasy romance about falling in love despite all odds. In modern-day Mexico, Sitlali has no family left and has caught the attention of a dangerous gang leader. She has no choice but to make the perilous trip to the US border and track down her long-absent father. The night before her journey, she finds a beautiful conch shell detailed with ancient markings. In 1521, Calizto is an Aztec young warrior in Tenochtitlan, fighting desperately to save his city from Spanish imperialists. With his family dead and the horrors of war surrounding him,…

ECHOES OF GRACE Teacher’s Guide A tragic accident in the young lives of sisters, Graciela (Grace) and Mercedes (Mercy) Torres, sets off a chain of events in which Grace flounders to restore her relationship with her sister while swimming against a current of strange, bewildering echoes. Flashbacks, premonitions, and visitations from the other side all weave a mysterious tapestry that weighs heavily on Grace’s shoulders as she tries to navigate memories of a time three years earlier when she ran away from home and lost a week of her life. In the present—amidst the mundanities of college homework and dating—Grace tries to figure out if the things happening in her…

El verano de las mariposas ¡Ahora, ésta odisea se ofrece en español! Odilia and her four sisters rival the mythical Odysseus in cleverness and courage as they embark on their own hero’s journey. After finding a drowned man floating in their secret swimming hole along the Rio Grande, the sisters trekacross the border to bring the body to the man’s family in Mexico. But returning home turns into an odyssey of their own. Outsmarting mythical creatures, and with the supernatural aid of spectral La Llorona via a magical earring, Odilia and her little sisters make their way along a road of trials to make it to their long-lost grandmother’s house.…

THE KEEPER Inspired by a terrifying true story, acclaimed author Guadalupe Garcia McCall creates a twisty tale about a boy desperately trying to survive in a new town with a history of disappearing children.   No sooner have he and his family arrived in their “perfect” new home in their “perfect” new town than he starts getting mysterious letters from someone called the Keeper. Someone who claims to be watching him. Someone who is looking for “young blood.” James and his sister, Ava, are obviously in danger. But the problem with having a history of playing practical jokes is that no one believes James—not even his parents. Now James and Ava need…

ALL THE STARS DENIED Teacher’s Guide In the heart of the Great Depression, Rancho Las Moras, like everywhere else in Texas, is gripped by the drought of the Dust Bowl, and resentment is building among white farmers against Mexican Americans. All around town, signs go up proclaiming No Dogs or Mexicans and No Mexicans Allowed. When Estrella organizes a protest against the treatment of tejanos in their town of Monteseco, Texas, her whole family becomes a target of repatriation efforts to send Mexicans back to Mexico whether they were ever Mexican citizens or not. Dumped across the border and separated from half her family, Estrella must figure out a way…

SHAME THE STARS Teacher’s Guide In this reimagining of Romeo and Juliet, eighteen-year-old Joaquín del Toro’s future looks bright. With his older brother in the priesthood, he’s set to inherit his family’s Texas ranch. He’s in love with Dulceña—and she’s in love with him. But it’s 1915, and trouble has been brewing along the US-Mexico border. On one side, the Mexican Revolution is taking hold; on the other, Texas Rangers fight Tejano insurgents, and ordinary citizens are caught in the middle. As tensions grow, Joaquín is torn away from Dulceña, whose father’s critical reporting on the Rangers in the local newspaper has driven a wedge between their families. Joaquín’s own…

SUMMER OF THE MARIPOSAS Teacher’s Guide and Reading Journal In this reimagining of the Odyssey, 15 year-old Odilia and her four sisters rival Odysseus in cleverness and courage as they embark on their own hero’s journey. After finding a drowned man floating in their secret swimming hole along the Rio Grande, the five sisters set out to El Sacrificio in Coahuila, Mexico. Their trek across the border, to return the body of a man they believe to be a loving husband and father to his family, is disappointing. However, their disenchantment is nothing compared to the heartbreak and troubles they endure as they try to get back. Outsmarting as many…

UNDER THE MESQUITE Teacher’s Guide As the oldest of eight siblings, Lupita is used to taking the lead—and staying busy behind the scenes to help keep everyone together. But when she discovers Mami has been diagnosed with cancer, Lupita is terrified by the possibility of losing her mother, the anchor of her close-knit Mexican American family. Suddenly Lupita must face a whole new set of challenges, with new roles to play, and no one is handing her the script. In the midst of juggling life as a high school student, testing her wings as an actress, and dealing with friends who don’t always understand, Lupita desperately wants to support Mami…